Netherfield Ball – Margaret Atwood’s Reception, India Habitat Center
The party secrets. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Author Patrick French is very, very handsome. Even so, that was not the only reason why one chilly evening in Delhi a multitude of women and men wanted to be…
Delhi’s Bandaged Heart – Mantra Mukim, Kamla Nagar
Poetry in the city. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The one-room apartment is filled with books on poetry. There are paperbacks under the bed, too. The ashtray lies atop Jorges Luis Borges’s Poems of the Night. The writing…
City Food – Auto Drivers’ Dal-Chawal Stall, Kasturba Gandhi Road
Meal on the go. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] All bankers look the same. They probably regain their individualistic personas during their lunch breaks. Same is the case with people of other professions too, including the capital’s auto…
Atget’s Corner – 896-900, Delhi Photos
The visible city. [By Mayank Austen Soofi] Delhi is a voyeur’s paradise and The Delhi Walla also makes pictures. I take photos of people, streets, flowers, eateries, drawing rooms, tombs, landscapes, buses, colleges, Sufi shrines, trees, animals, autos, libraries, birds,…
Netherfield Ball – The Alkazi Foundation’s Reception, Max Mueller Bhavan
The party secrets. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It is that cold time of the year when all the beautiful people of the capital join the exodus to attend the Jaipur Literature Festival. Delhi is cruelly dumped; its…
City List – Khan Market’s Last Residents, Central Delhi
End of story. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Khan Market suffers a great loss. Raj Berry of flat no. 37 died in November 2015; she was 86. With her departure, the number of Khan Market’s residents falls further….
City Moment – Steve McCurry Shoots a Goat, Somewhere in Delhi
The incredible Delhi instant. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] His eyes narrowed down to the black dog. Just as he clicked on his mobile phone camera, a man suddenly passed in front of the dog. The moment was…
City Moment – BRT Cyclists, Bhishma Pitamah Road
The much-needed cyclists. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Five young women and men are sharing three bicycles between them. One evening The Delhi Walla spots them on the tree-lined Bhishma Pitamah Road. These green bicycles are labeled ‘Delhi…
Photo Essay – Shakespeare’s World, Around Delhi
Living with the Bard. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Disclaimer: This article has stolen many phrases from the complete works of a writer who had a history of taking inspiration from people’s lives. In Sufism, the death anniversary…
City Monument – Hijron ka Khanqah, Mehrauli
Into another world. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] Beautifully maintained, surprisingly serene, and almost always empty, this is a sufi spiritual retreat for hijras, or eunuchs, who beg for money by flaunting their ambiguous sexuality, and yet are…
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